John Ireland, (born Sept. 11, 1838, Burnchurch, County Kilkenny, Ire.—died Sept. 25, 1918, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.) first archbishop of St. Paul; head of the liberal Roman Catholic clergy who promoted the integration of predominantly immigrant parishes into the life of the U.S. church (and society as a whole)—in opposition to the separatist tendency of many ethnic groups to preserve their European-style churches, with priests of their own nationalities.

Ireland emigrated to the United States in 1849 with his parents, who settled at St. Paul, Minnesota Territory. Later educated in France, he was ordained priest at St. Paul in 1861. In 1862 he was chaplain for the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Ireland was rector of St. Paul Cathedral when he was appointed bishop-coadjutor in 1875. He subsequently became bishop (1884) and archbishop (1888). Ireland’s liberal views also gave him a wide influence and reputation outside of the church. Many Europeans considered him the chief Catholic intellectual leader in the U.S. His ideas on social reform and the relation of the church to a democratic society were prophetic. Through the Catholic Colonization Bureau, he encouraged the founding of Catholic colonies in the northwest. In 1889 he helped establish the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., and founded (1894) St. Paul Seminary. He published The Church and Modern Society in 1896.